Reel Review Roundup

Dìdi (MA)

Directed by: Sean Wang

Starring: Izaac Wang, Joan Chen, Shirley Chen

Review by: Julian Wright

It is 2008, and the last month of summer break turns out to be the most tumultuous, confusing and frustrating yet for 13-year-old Taiwanese American Chris Wang (Izaac Wang).

Not only do his older sister Vivian (Shirley Chen) and mother Chungsing (Joan Chen) continue to be a daily source of embarrassment, but he begins the awkward discovery of girls, the cool groups, drugs, rejection from so-called friends and general growing pains.

It is a moment in time in which Chris struggles to find out where he fits in this world, and it is a painful journey figuring it out.

Dìdi takes a refreshing approach to the teen angst sub-genre by digging deeper into the teenage experience than we have seen in some time, and with subtlety and delicacy.

The setting provides bouts of nostalgia when it comes to Myspace, the early days of Facebook, instant message chats and grainy Youtube videos for those who were online during the mid-2000s.

But their depiction in this film as important tools for the way that generation began interacting rings true, and the chats seem ripped from real life.

Dìdi is one of those films that runs the gamut of emotions, as per the highs and lows of teen years, but there are truly heartbreaking moments that are even more affecting due to the naturalistic performances.

Wang is such a fresh talent, it is as if he doesn’t know how to act, untarnished by classes, training, theories or other film acting style influences.

Wang, and indeed his co-stars, never seem to be acting; instead they are being, experiencing, and it is one of the most wondrous examples of naturalistic performing, to the point that Dìdi feels positively documentary-like.

Unsurprising, given that this is the feature film debut of documentary filmmaker Sean Wang, a remarkable achievement in authenticity.

His endeavour to capture real-life and eye for details are unmatched, casting age-appropriate people, with messy hair and acne, rather than the Hollywood standard of what should appear on screen, goes a long way in creating as realistic film as possible.

He has truly created something quite special.

Didi is screening as part of Perth Festival – Lotterywest Films November 25 – December 1.

This entry was posted on November 20, 2024 at 9:21 pm and is filed under Uncategorized with tags didi, film, film-festival, joan-chen, review, sean-wang, shirley-chen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.